--- title: "20 Questions with Holly Munks" description: "Holly is the newest member of the Business Maverick team. Born and raised in Durban, she recently returned to the city by the sea after an enjoyable, if rather rainy, stint in London. She’s worked in local news and financial wire reporting, interned at a couple of broadcasters and helped make a short documentary. She answered 20 questions for Maverick Insiders." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "20 Questions" author: "Daily Maverick" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/dailymaverick/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-10-21-20-questions-with-holly-munks/" published: "2026-10-21T12:07:03" updated: "2026-11-03T15:48:04" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 868 --- # 20 Questions with Holly Munks > Holly is the newest member of the Business Maverick team. Born and raised in Durban, she recently returned to the city by the sea after an enjoyable, if rather rainy, stint in London. She’s worked in local news and financial wire reporting, interned at a couple of broadcasters and helped make a short documentary. She answered 20 questions for Maverick Insiders. By Daily Maverick · Published 21 October 2026, 14:07 SAST · Updated 3 November 2026, 17:48 SAST ## Key points - Junior business reporter, Holly Munks, answers 20 questions for Maverick Insiders. - Junior business reporter, Holly Munks, answers 20 questions for Maverick Insiders. ## Content **Favourite book. Recently and of all time?** Recently, I really enjoyed Empire of AI by Karen Hao and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. Favourite book ever might be Mark Fisher’s Ghosts of My Life. **Favourite film. Of all time and recently?** Of all time, it’s a tie between Vertigo and Shrek 2. I respect both equally. Not a new movie but I recently saw Say Anything and that was great. **Favourite series. Recently and of all time?** Recently I had a great time powering through Lost. My favourite TV series of all time is definitely Twin Peaks. **What is the most random thing you’ve ordered online?** A metal pole that you can fit with different brush and mop heads to make a kind of multipurpose cleaning tool. **What is the last thing on your phone that you took a screenshot of?** The Wi-Fi login details for Daily Maverick’s office :) **What app do you spend the most time on?** Probably Safari, to be honest. The Podcast app also gets plenty of love. **What’s your favourite piece of trivia?** Madagascar still experiences seasonal outbreaks of bubonic plague. Wild. **If you could relive one specific experience, what would it be?** My third birthday party. There was a really fantastic jumping castle. **Window seat or aisle seat?** Always aisle. I like the autonomy. **If you could live as someone else for the day, who would it be and why?** Maybe Charli XCX? It would be fun to be a performer for a day and her life seems pretty cool. **Career highlight?** The moment I saw the image the art team put together for my first feature story at Time Out. **What are people always surprised to learn about you?** I play the drums (not very well, but still). **You’ve just been arrested. What crime were you likely to have committed?** Driving without my licence in the car – way too easy to forget. **If you weren’t working in your current role, what industry would you be in?** A worked in clothing retail very briefly, and am still pretty interested in the fashion industry. **What is the most-worn item in your wardrobe?** A thrifted brown leather jacket. **What’s the best advice you’ve received?** Don’t be afraid to ask questions and don’t pretend to know the answer if you’re not sure. **Name one person you admire?** Imtiaz Sooliman from Gift of the Givers. **What’s your current guilty pleasure?** Real Housewives. New York and Atlanta are particularly entertaining. **If you could travel anywhere tomorrow, where would you go?** Sicily. It’s been top of my bucket list for a while. **Favourite book. Recently and of all time?** Recently, I really enjoyed Empire of AI by Karen Hao and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. Favourite book ever might be Mark Fisher’s Ghosts of My Life. **Favourite film. Of all time and recently?** Of all time, it’s a tie between Vertigo and Shrek 2. I respect both equally. Not a new movie but I recently saw Say Anything and that was great. **Favourite series. Recently and of all time?** Recently I had a great time powering through Lost. My favourite TV series of all time is definitely Twin Peaks. **What is the most random thing you’ve ordered online?** A metal pole that you can fit with different brush and mop heads to make a kind of multipurpose cleaning tool. **What is the last thing on your phone that you took a screenshot of?** The Wi-Fi login details for Daily Maverick’s office :) **What app do you spend the most time on?** Probably Safari, to be honest. The Podcast app also gets plenty of love. **What’s your favourite piece of trivia?** Madagascar still experiences seasonal outbreaks of bubonic plague. Wild. **If you could relive one specific experience, what would it be?** My third birthday party. There was a really fantastic jumping castle. **Window seat or aisle seat?** Always aisle. I like the autonomy. **If you could live as someone else for the day, who would it be and why?** Maybe Charli XCX? It would be fun to be a performer for a day and her life seems pretty cool. **Career highlight?** The moment I saw the image the art team put together for my first feature story at Time Out. **What are people always surprised to learn about you?** I play the drums (not very well, but still). **You’ve just been arrested. What crime were you likely to have committed?** Driving without my licence in the car – way too easy to forget. **If you weren’t working in your current role, what industry would you be in?** A worked in clothing retail very briefly, and am still pretty interested in the fashion industry. **What is the most-worn item in your wardrobe?** A thrifted brown leather jacket. **What’s the best advice you’ve received?** Don’t be afraid to ask questions and don’t pretend to know the answer if you’re not sure. **Name one person you admire?** Imtiaz Sooliman from Gift of the Givers. **What’s your current guilty pleasure?** Real Housewives. New York and Atlanta are particularly entertaining. **If you could travel anywhere tomorrow, where would you go?** Sicily. It’s been top of my bucket list for a while.